way OT rant, just need to vent

Doug in Illinois · Jun 24, 2011

What does it take to get a good house renter?

We have been "ripped a new one" twice now since we
moved about a year ago. We still owe on the rental
property, it is a mobile home on 5 acres.

We called the previous "landlords" and got a good
reference. Came to find out the landlords, weren't
real.

Anyhow, the real rant now: the current tenants are
refusing to pay and are doing serious damage to
the inside of the trailer. They have taken the
screens out and left the windows wide open while
they were elsewhere. Over 4 inches of rain came
in, the carpet is ruined and the particle board is
now collapsing through.

I contacted the prepaid legal service I belong to,
they emailed the 5 day notice form and the proof
of service form we need to get them out.

The 5 days was yesterday. Rent is over a month
past due.

Going to get expensive to get them out. $82 at the
circuit clerk, $36 for the sheriff to serve them
plus mileage until they do find them home, plus
court costs.

They also have a vicious dog. We agreed to pets,
but not a 4 foot tall intact male boxer that has a
major attitude.

I felt "sorry" for them when they moved in and
waived damage deposit / last month rent. All we
have collected is 1 months rent since they moved
in April 16th.

Maybe just a lesson for anyone else before you
"help" someone. DOUG

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2011

Dad rented out a place once and had so much trouble that when it was empty he set it on fire. No more stress................

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2011

I have a house on 10 acres that I have been trying to sell for three years. If it doesnt sell this summer I have to try to rent it out. Its to expensive to heat over winter for me. IF.. you can get a good renter hopefully it will go OK.

dgasper · Jun 24, 2011

My wife and her sister used to rent out a house on the farm they jointly own. When the last renter moved out they had the house bulldozed. Suddenly they don't have renter problems anymore.

rrlund · Jun 24, 2011

I'd be like Dave2's dad. I never bought another place with a house on it,but if I did,first thing I'd do would be burn it to the ground.
As far as a reference,Dad always said that when ever he had a bad renter he wanted to get rid of,he gave them a good reference so somebody else would take'em off his hands.

msb · Jun 24, 2011

I feel for you. Been there. Couldn't get the woman out.She moved in with the renter and he abandoned her.Tried everything we knew to get her out short of burning her out. She was raising wolves that were maiming and killing the neighbor's animals. Was told she was dealing drugs. Called the sheriff. She will be getting out of prison next month , but she won't be coming "home". We had the house and garage bulldozed and abandoned the well, a couple months ag

wned the farm for 8 years now. Collected rent for maybe two years from various renters.Yea, they all promised to be on time with the rent.Wasn't worth it. Lowered the taxes, no insurance now to pay on the house and picked up a couple acres of tillable land that we will collect on.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2011

good luck, have a friend here in Pa had a renter in his trailer in his trailer park file for bankruptcy. cost him 500.00 to find out he can't touch said renter for 5 years. told Me he should of just dozed the trailer off the blocks 1st month they didn't pay their rent. now he's stuck with them for 5 years.

Phil in Pa · Jun 24, 2011

I rented for many years before I bought my own place. I left most of the places in better shape than I found them. There"s good ones out there.

Ray · Jun 24, 2011

I had a decent old farm house about 10 miles from where i live.Had so much trouble with renters i tore it down.Most people that rent don't have any money,that's why they rent.My dads old 3 bedroom brick has been setting empty for 10 years.It's in a bad place to sell off,very close to my farm buildings.At least i'm not loosing money with renters.A trailer would be a lot worse,they draw deadbeats.

cole in mo. · Jun 24, 2011

rented our house in town after we moved to the country, first renters didn't pay for 3 months. got them out, rented it again, they paid once, painted over the high priced paneling and ruined the carpet then left on their own. last ones paid once, never could find them after that, when they left the shop behind the house was full of trash. sold the place for a lot less than it was worth just to get rid of it.

ohenry · Jun 24, 2011

I rented a house out once to an "executive and hs family for one year. Did so much damage I had to sue them in small claims court for over 4000 dollars. Did I learn? NO I rented another house in Florida to a young couple, got checks for 1st and last, security deposit. Three weeks later all the checks came back NSF. I tried to move them out but she was pregnant and I could do nothing, not even go on the property until the baby was 30 days old. They sold all the appliances, stuff I had stored in attic and even the inside glass doorknobs. Never again My total loss in both escapades, over $9000 plus 10 months unpaid rent at $55o per mo.

elmersooner · Jun 24, 2011

don't try renting to friends or family either....last escapade i had was when I stopped by to talk to them there were steaming bowls of food on the table...but no one eating them. i stayed at the door for an hour-food wasn't steaming when i left. lessons learned--use realtor that does rentals, first and last month rent in cashier check. deposit and eviction fee also that way if you need the sheriff it is already paid for..

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2011

We had a farm house that we rented due to building a new house on the the other part of the farm. 4 renters-all the same deadbeats, drugs, alcohol, no rent, dog problems, all the while they drove better cars than us-sold house at a discount one of the best days of my life. I WOULD NOT TOUCH RENTAL PROPERTY WITH A 10 FOOT POLE. As stated earlier there is a reason why they rent. Thats the problem in our country now-the government decided everybody should be a homeowner-it just doesn't work!

Anonymous-0 · Jun 24, 2011

if you have fire insurance, just burn down the place and collect the insurance, that fixes the problem,,,, have fun

redtom · Jun 24, 2011

When Bruce Williams, the money guy was still on the radio he used to talk about his rentals that he owned. He said in some cases he would offer the renters a months rent in cash to get out immediately. He said it was quicker than eviction and easier and a lot of times they were quick to comply. Sad way to spend money but may be cheaper in the long run.

Leroy · Jun 24, 2011

Know what you mean, After Dad passed away had 2 bad renters and each one cost me over 10,000 and some one try to force themselves in, Coust anouther 10000 to get rid of them. 1 good renter in lot, young and when they left it was to buy there own home. Lost the house plus better than 95% of farm in bankruptcy. Even if no insurance if you have a morgtage then you cannot remove the house.

GeneMO · Jun 24, 2011

Then spend several years in prison.

Gene

PJH · Jun 24, 2011

I had a trailer that I tried to rent in the sixties. It ended much like your experience. I sold the trailer at a loss and counted it as the cost of an education.

The guy who rented from me had an alcohol problem (that I wasn't aware of). It's hard to deal with a man who has snakes in his boots.

Never again. . .

Paul

rockyridgefarm · Jun 24, 2011

Dad just bought his third (and hopefully final) farm. Comes with a house that needs to be fixed up before he can rent it out. I told him to save a lot of hassle and bulldoze it, but he won't listen. He already has major troubles with the house on the second farm he bought in 2004. It was my grandpa's farm and the house was built new in 1979. It breaks my heart to see grandpa's house ruined little by little by brain dead people. First guys had a friggin' St. Bernard IN THE HOUSE. "Oh no. He doesn't stink" "Oh no. He doesn't tear stuff up" I'd rather see it burned or dozed than slowly ruined.

JDseller · Jun 24, 2011

I have seven rental houses. Three where my Misses and the other ones I got thru the years. I had a lot of problems when I had poor homes to rent. I fixed them up and raised the rent. That alone got rid of most of the problems.

I was in a real estate law class one time. The fellow teaching it was very darkly sun tanned. Looked pretty permanent too. LOL He is/was one of our local prosecutors. He said you can discriminate against people buttttttt only if the color is green. His point don"t deal with people that don"t have any money.

I require two months rent plus a security deposit. The cheapest house I rent is at $750 per month. The move in cost on that house would be $2250. I also run a credit check. No one with bad credit gets in. I have some times had houses set empty while finding the right renter. You can find them you just have to look.

I also am a real hard butt on the rent being due on time. One late payment and you are out. I have a formal written lease that is filled out each time by my lawyer. I would rather pay him up front than later to remove some dead beat. The fill in the blank leases can be beat in court. I have evicted my own nephew. He was two weeks late on the rent because he bought a new pickup and blew his money on the down payment.

I have good houses. I keep them maintained. I fix things as soon as I know about them. Most of my renters are over sixty years old. Several of them just don"t want the worry of keeping a house up. This way they can just call me.

Old Roy · Jun 25, 2011

Friend of mine is going through the same thing now . Being good heart ed he rented the same as you.
both people was on SS and no place to go. so he rented to both of them. in the past year they split ( woman left him for another scud) so the male was responsible for full payment so he decided to rent out the basement to another scud to help pay the rent, but he did this without the owners permission.

All went fairly well till owner found that this other renter totally trashed the basement. Found this out when that guy went into a hospice situation -- never to come back. We burnt his stuff last month.He had no family.

Anyway A month ago owner told the renter he had to leave because he knew he wouldn't be able to pay rent on his only income. he went to magistrate and found he had to give him a written eviction notice, then 15 days later to file papers on him He will do that on Monday coming up.
Since he is the only one there and no kids -- Sheriff will serve papers on him and he will have 30 days or be escorted out by the sheriff and all property left will be owners choice of what to do with it .

NEKS · Jun 25, 2011

Know the feeling. Rented to a family I though. Come to find out there is 4 kids and three dads. One of the real dad and husband just got out of prison early and come home and the lady call us and wants us to remove the boy friend, but he is the only one working and paying the rent. Can't kick him out cause he signed the lease and we are getting our money.

This farmers sisters husband died and she brought the house next door. The farmer said she did not like our renters. Told him when I am out of town sometime burn it down. We both would be happier.

Mike (WA) · Jun 25, 2011

He needs a different lawyer. Bankruptcy only applies to pre-filing debts, and renter has to keep paying the rent or be evicted. Debtor can do a few tricks with the bankruptcy "stay" against creditors, but no way he can stall for more than a couple of months, certainly not 5 years.

Unruh · Jun 25, 2011

I had three rentals for a while. I liked them twice - the day I bought them and the day I sold them!

oldtanker · Jun 25, 2011

Yea it fixes the problem....ya get 3-5 in free room and board.

Renters can a will continute to be problems. I do take exception to the statement that renters rent because they have no money. My #2 son makes over 60 a year. He rents because in Fargo ND rent is pretty cheap. For him it makes econmic sense. They are getting a townhouse in the next few weeks when their lease is up.

Rick

Frankmn · Jun 25, 2011

My father has 30 rental units. It is important to pay for a service to run criminal and credit background checks on every prospective resident. Charge an application fee to cover the cost, and if they check out okay, credit the fee toward their security deposit. The ones that won't check out will not pay the application fee. Never feel sorry for anyone as rental properties are a business like any other. Also, the 5 day notice should be used before they are a month behind because an unlawful detainer and eviction usually takes 2 to 3 weeks and you do not want to lose more than a month on any deadbeat resident.

Billy Shafer · Jun 26, 2011

Well I am one of the good renters. The ranch I rent from has four apartments in town. I rent one my sister in law rents one. We take real good care of both of them. I do all repairs and the ranch pays for my supplies.

But before she moved down here. Two were empty after two ranch hands were kicked out. They ask me to repair both apartments for renting. I thought it would be simple. After all they were being lived in by ranch hands.

Boy was I wrong. One had what looked like mushrooms growing out of the carpet. Holes in the walls crayon marks all over the place. Light fixtures broken,stove was a mess and not sure what the brown stuff on the walls was. But it sure wasn't dirt.Had to leave the windows open for a week before you could enter without throwing up.The other was just as bad. I did manage to clean them up. So now no one rents unless they are approved by me. I have several rules that they must obey. Number one is keep it clean and in good shape. Or you will be leaving and since this is ranch property. We have plenty of people to help them move. I do inspections once a month.

way OT rant, just need to vent

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads